


First Christmas

by teej_318



Series: Christmas/Winter themed One-shots [6]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Best Friends, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, Fluff, Gift Exchange, Joyce Byers is an amazing mom, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, boys holding hands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:20:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21927346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teej_318/pseuds/teej_318
Summary: It's the first Christmas since Mike and Will became friends in kindergarten and Mike is spending Christmas Eve with the Byers family.
Relationships: Will Byers & Mike Wheeler, Will Byers/Mike Wheeler
Series: Christmas/Winter themed One-shots [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1550689
Comments: 3
Kudos: 52





	First Christmas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [big_slug](https://archiveofourown.org/users/big_slug/gifts).



Will scrambled to get to the front door when he heard knocking. It was Christmas Eve and his new best friend, Mike, was coming over to spend the night with Will and his mother and brother. Will whipped the door open and came face-to-face with a beaming Mike, who was carrying a gift in his arms and was bundled up from head to toe. Mike’s mother was standing with him and smiled down at Will.

“Hi Mikey!” Will said excitedly, throwing his arms around his friend, a difficult task with the present in his way, but Mike let go of the gift with one hand and used it to wrap his arm around Will.

“Hi Willie, Merry Christmas Eve!”

“I’m so excited you’re here! Thanks for letting him come, Mrs. Wheeler,” Will added, smiling up at Mrs. Wheeler.

“Oh, it’s nothing, dear,” said Mrs. Wheeler. “You two have a good time tonight, okay?”

“Do you want to come in?” asked Will.

“I would love to, but I’ve got to get going, Will. I still have some last minute cooking to do for Christmas tomorrow. You behave yourself tonight, Michael,” Mrs. Wheeler added in a stern voice to Mike.

“I will, Mom,” Mike said, sounding annoyed. 

Mrs. Wheeler gave Mike a kiss on the forehead before she turned to walk off the porch and back to her car. Mike followed Will into the house. Will took the gift from Mike so Mike could take off all of his winter clothing he was wearing, and he placed the gift under the tree. Mike hurried over to Will once he was free from his layers and beamed at the Christmas tree.

“Your tree is beautiful, Will,” said Mike, staring at the tree, mesmerized. 

Will’s face lit up.

“You really like it?” he asked. Mike nodded happily. “Me and Jonathan made a lot of the ornaments on it. Do a lot of people do that?”

Mike shrugged.

“I don’t think we ever have, but I really want to now!” Mike said excitedly.

At that moment, Jonathan and Mrs. Byers walked into the room. Jonathan waved at Mike before plopping down on the recliner that Mrs. Byers usually sat in, and stared at the fire that was going in the fireplace. 

“Hi there, Mike, it’s nice to see you,” said Mrs. Byers in her usual warm voice. Her voice always made Mike feel like he was in a home he could call his own, besides his own. 

Mike smiled at her.

“Merry Christmas Eve,” he said happily. “Thanks for letting me come over.”

“Of course, honey. We’re all happy to have you here with us. We’re gonna have a lot of fun tonight. Dinner is just about ready, so you boys had better wash up. And I hope you’re hungry; we’ve got lots of food!”

All three of the boys cheered before they raced to the bathroom to wash their hands and freshen up. They hurried to the dining room, where Mrs. Byers was putting out all of the dishes for dinner. She had gone all out for this meal: there was turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, corn on the cob, dinner rolls and green bean casserole.

“Wow this looks amazing, Mrs. Byers,” said Mike, his eyes widening as he took in the feast of food in front of him.

“It looks and smells great, but tastes better,” Mrs. Byers replied, beaming at Mike. “You just wait!”

Once Mrs. Byers had finished setting out all of the dishes, she and Jonathan started loading up plates for everyone. Mike and Will both opted for a bit of everything, both of them suddenly feeling ravenous. Soon, everyone was settled and they all dug in; Mike was privately happy that he didn’t have to wait for someone to say grace like he did at home.

Mrs. Byers was right; her food tasted amazing. Everything was perfect, including the corn on the cob, which Mike usually didn’t like, but somehow she had made it in a way that he loved. He made a mental note to tell his mother to get the recipe from Mrs. Byers when she picked him up the next morning. 

After clearing their plates, the four of them cleaned up the dining table, putting away the leftovers and getting all of the dishes loaded in the dishwasher. Once everything was put away, Mrs. Byers walked over to the oven and pulled out a tray of homemade cookies for the boys to try. They each had two cookies apiece, and they were the best tasting cookies Mike had ever eaten. 

“All right, boys, now I think it’s time for the moment you’ve been waiting for: present time!” Mrs. Byers announced once the cookie plates had been put away.

Mike, Will and Jonathan all cheered before they hurried into the living room. Jonathan was sitting in the recliner again while Mike and Will had claimed the couch before Mrs. Byers had even walked into the living room. She chuckled when she saw the boys already in place and she picked up the gifts for the boys and handed each of them their gift. Once the boys had their gifts, Mrs. Byers sat down next to the fireplace with her camera in hand.

“Okay, Jonathan, honey, since you’re the oldest, we’ll let you go first,” she said.

“All right!” Jonathan exclaimed, tearing into his gift. 

It took a few moments for Jonathan to get his gift unwrapped. When he was done, Jonathan stood up as he held up the new winter coat he had gotten. He looked over at Joyce, beaming at her.

“Wow, Mom, this is great! I love it! Thank you!” Jonathan said, grinning.

“You’re welcome, sweetie, now smile!” Mrs. Byers said, holding her camera up to her face and pressing the button to snap a photo of Jonathan. 

Jonathan sat back down and Mrs. Byers turned to Mike and Will, who were both beaming and looked excited.

“Will, do you want to go first?” Mrs. Byers asked. 

Will shook his head and turned to look at Mike.

“You should go first, Mikey,” he said happily.

“Okay!” Mike replied as he started to rip off the wrapping paper. He quickly discovered the gift contained a photo frame and he slowed down his opening to make sure that he didn’t damage whatever was inside. 

Once the wrapping paper was all off of the gift, Mike took a proper look at it. Inside the photo frame was a hand drawn picture of Mike and Will with the words “Mike and Will: Best Friends Forever” in what Mike guessed was Mrs. Byers’ handwriting because Will definitely didn’t write that neatly yet. Mike turned to look at Will, beaming. 

“Do you like it?” Will asked shyly, looking nervous.

“Are you kidding? I love it!” Mike exclaimed, leaning over and giving Will a hug. “Thank you, Will! I promise I’m gonna hang it up in my room as soon as I get home tomorrow!”

Will’s face lit up and he smiled at Mike before he turned his attention to his own gift. Mrs. Byers stopped him, though, so she could get a picture of Mike with the drawing. Will then hurriedly opened his gift from Mike. It was a green sweater that looked similar to the sweaters Will had seen Mike wearing when the weather started to get cold, including now with the blue sweater Mike was wearing. 

“My Mom knitted it for you, Will,” Mike explained while Will admired the sweater. “I helped her with it a little, but she said the best way I could help was just by watching quietly.”

Mike thought he saw Mrs. Byers suppress a laugh, but he ignored it, too enamored with how Will was staring at the new sweater with wide eyes.

“Oh, Mike, I love it! Thank you so much!”

Will gave Mike a hug before he promptly threw the sweater over the shirt he was wearing. It fit him perfectly, though it was a little large on him so he could grow into it. Mike felt his heart warm up when he saw Will in the sweater and he felt happier than he had in a long time.

“That’s a great sweater, Mike,” Mrs. Byers said, beaming at Mike. “Thank you so much for that, and make sure to tell your Mom ‘thank you’ for me.”

“I will, Mrs. Byers,” Mike said.

“Can she make me one too?” Jonathan asked, pouting slightly.

“I can ask her to!” Mike said, stopping Mrs. Byers from chastising Jonathan. “We can make you one for your birthday!”

Jonathan smiled and nodded at Mike. 

“That would be awesome!” he said.

Mrs. Byers then made all three boys get together on the couch for pictures of the three of them and with their gifts. Once she was done, Jonathan returned to the recliner and Mrs. Byers turned the TV, and put  _ Rudolph _ on. As the opening credits of the special played, Mike and Will scooted closer to each other. Mike eventually found Will’s hand and laced their fingers together. Mike smiled at Will, who grinned back to him.

“Merry Christmas, Will,” Mike whispered just loud enough for Will to hear him.

“Merry Christmas, Mike,” Will replied.

They turned their attention to the TV and Will rested his head on Mike’s shoulder. Mike then rested his head on top of Will’s and that’s how they fell asleep on the couch halfway through the movie. Their hearts were full and they were warmest they had ever been. And Mrs. Byers couldn’t help but take a picture of the two of them, knowing it would probably embarrass the boys when they got older, but that they would appreciate it always.

**Author's Note:**

> For the record, Joyce and Lonnie have already split in this story, which is why he's absent. Nobody likes him anyway, so he's certainly not missed.
> 
> I hope y'all enjoyed this! Merry Christmas Eve Eve, my fellow Byeler shippers!
> 
> Come yell at/follow me on Tumblr: [@wackywriterwhowriteswhenever](http://wackywriterwhowriteswhenever.tumblr.com)
> 
> You can also follow me [on Twitter](http://twitter.com/_tj_rigg) but just know that I'm super political on there, so don't follow me if you don't like politics.


End file.
